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This section of the Quick Start Guide provides a general
overview of the SocketTools ActiveX controls used for the most
common tasks, divided into groups based on their functionality. For
a complete list and detailed descriptions of all of the controls
included in the product, refer to the Control Overview section of
the Developer's Guide.
If your program needs to transfer files between a local computer
system and a remote server, SocketTools includes components which
implement the File Transfer Protocol (FTP) and Hypertext Transfer
Protocol (HTTP). Both protocols can be used to upload and download
files, and FTP also supports various file management functions.
Which protocol is used largely depends on the specific needs of the
application and the type of server that the program is connecting
to. A general purpose file transfer program would most likely use
both controls and allow the user to select which protocol to
use.
| Control |
Description |
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FtpClient
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The File Transfer Protocol control
enables an application to upload and download files, as well as
perform various file management functions on the server. For
example, the control can be used to list the files in a directory,
delete and rename files, etc. |
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HttpClient
|
The Hypertext Transfer Protocol
control enables an application to upload and download files, as
well as interact with web-based applications. The file management
capabilities are somewhat limited compared to FTP, however the
protocol is not as complex and has fewer compatibility issues with
certain network configurations. |
Applications which need to access resources on a web server and
interact with web-based applications can use the Hypertext Transfer
Protocol (HTTP) control. In the context of web services, the
control can be used to access resources on a web server, execute
scripts and other applications, as well as perform various
management functions using WebDAV, a protocol extension for
distributed authoring.
| Control |
Description |
|
HttpClient
|
The Hypertext Transfer Protocol
control enables an application to upload and download files, as
well as interact with web-based applications. The control can be
used to post data to scripts which are executed on the server and
return the output of those scripts to the client application. |
SocketTools includes several controls which can be used to
create applications that send and receive e-mail messages.
Applications can compose, edit and store messages on the local
system, retrieve messages from a mail server and send messages to
one or more recipients. The SocketTools controls support features
such as the ability to compose messages with styled (HTML) text,
file attachments, relay server authentication and delivery status
notification. Programs which only wish to process messages
sent to a user would typically use the MIME control and either the
IMAP4 or POP3 controls. Programs which only wish to send messages
would typically use the MIME control and the SMTP control. A full
featured mail client would use all of the following components.
| Control |
Description |
|
MailMessage
|
The Multipurpose Internet Mail
Extensions (MIME) standard defines the structure and format which
is used by e-mail messages. This control enables you to create MIME
compliant messages easily, as well as parse existing messages, edit
them and store them on the local system. The control supports
complex multipart attachments, including messages with one or more
file attachments and messages with alternative content such as
styled HTML text. |
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ImapClient
|
The Internet Message Access
Protocol (IMAP4) control can be used to manage e-mail messages on a
mail server. Using this control, you can list and retrieve
messages, search for specific messages, manage multiple mailboxes,
retrieve portions of a message and perform other advanced
functions. |
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PopClient
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The Post Office Protocol (POP3)
control can be used to list the messages on a mail server and
download them to the local system. Unlike the IMAP4 protocol, which
is designed to manage messages on the server, the POP3 protocol is
used primarily to retrieve messages, store them locally and then
delete them from the server. POP3 is a simpler protocol with less
functionality than IMAP4, however it much more widely
supported. |
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SmtpClient
|
The Simple Mail Transfer Protocol
(SMTP) control is used to submit a message for delivery to one or
more recipients. The control can be used to either send the message
directly to the recipient, or messages can be routed through a
relay server which is responsible for forwarding the message. Both
standard SMTP and extended ESMTP sessions are supported, along with
advanced options such as authentication and delivery status
notification. |
Applications which need to execute commands on a remote server
or establish a terminal session can use the SocketTools Telnet and
Remote Shell (RSH) controls. The program can connect to the server
and interact with the server in the same way that a user can with a
character based terminal. In addition, SocketTools includes a
terminal emulation control which can be used to emulate an ANSI
console or a DEC VT-220 terminal. This can be used to either
provide the user with a traditional virtual terminal interface, or
the program can read data at specific rows and columns and
effectively provide a graphical interface for a legacy
character-based application running on the server.
| Control |
Description |
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TelnetClient
|
The Telnet protocol control
enables the application to establish a standard, interactive
terminal session with a remote host. This approach is similar to
how character-based terminals were connected to systems and users
would login to the mainframe or minicomputer. For legacy
applications that run on a UNIX server, this control can be used to
connect to the server, login and interact with the server just as a
user would sitting at a terminal. You can either choose to display
the terminal session to the user, or you can have your application
present a graphical interface to the user and interact with the
terminal session in the background. |
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RshClient
|
The Remote Shell (RSH) control
actually implements three related protocols in a single component.
The rshell and rexec protocols are used to execute a command on the
server and the output from that command is returned to the client.
The difference between the two protocols has to do with how
authentication is handled. The rexec protocol uses a password to
authenticate a user session, while rshell uses host equivalence.
More information about these protocols is available in the
Technical Reference. This control also implements the rlogin
protocol, which is similar to the Telnet protocol in that it
provides an interactive terminal session. |
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Terminal
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The Terminal control emulates a
standard character-based terminal, either as an ANSI console, DEC
VT-100 or DEC-VT220 terminal. The emulator supports all of the
standard ANSI and DEC escape sequences, including support for
colors and line drawing. Your program has full control over the
functionality of the control, including the color mapping, the
escape sequences that special keys (such as the function keys) send
and whether the user can do things such as select and copy text
from the virtual display. |
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